Mrs. Bixby was a women briefly mentioned in the film Saving Private Ryan, famous for tragically losing five sons during the American civil war. She recieved a letter from president Abraham Lincoln saying how sincerely sorry he was about the loss of her five sons. General George C. Marshall read the letter to his aide, a major and a captain with one arm in order to convince them that the search to find Private James Francis Ryan should be done so as it was similar to what happened to Mrs. Bixby which, right at that moment, Mrs. Margaret Ryan would be going through.